Supporter Profile: Julia Maddalina Paints for HOPE

When did you first start painting, and what kind of content do you produce?

I’ve been making drawings and paintings since a very young age. I had a passion for learning more so I started independent study for art and was participating in gallery shows with community art organizations around the age of 12.

I have an emphasis on narrative portraiture in my work. I’ve always been most drawn to works that tell a story. Similarly, I also love to create fantasy and illustrative art.

Being a full-time artist is a unique commitment. I find it to be a mix of commissions, freelance work, gallery shows, and education. Today, it also takes a tremendous commitment to social media. Through Patreon, Twitch, Instagram, and Zoom workshops I’ve been fortunate to shift my career in these challenging times.

What inspired you to start your Portraits of the Frontline series? When did you begin?

On March 30, 2020, I put out on a call on Twitter to health care professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic saying that I would love to paint their portraits to honor them.

With everything shut down at the time, I wanted to contribute to a good cause, and felt like I could make more of an impact than just staying away from others. Painting portraits was fulfilling, and I was going to make the most of it.

Can you tell us a little bit about how your process works?

After I came up with the idea for the project, a friend of mine reached out saying that his friend would be willing to take me up on the offer and allow me to paint her. After posting my painting of her on April 7, word spread faster than I could have imagined. People reached out to me at an ever-increasing rate with each new portrait I posted.

It was really chaotic at times, as I’m just one person receiving, responding, and organizing the stories and photos, and then creating the work. Around number 50, I knew that, for my own well-being, I needed to have an end-goal in mind. At first, perhaps like many people, I thought the pandemic might last just a few weeks, so I didn’t set a goal; I figured I’d just paint as many as I could. When it became clear that wasn’t the case, I set my goal at 100.

My creative process includes sketching the portrait, spraying down the pencil lines, waiting for that to dry, and then finally painting on top of it. Each portrait takes about a day.

You’ve painted portraits of 100 health care workers since you first started the series. Are there any stories that were particularly memorable or really stood out to you? Are there any common threads or themes that came up in the stories you heard?

All the stories were incredibly touching. So many health workers couldn’t see their families for extended periods — and sometimes they were the only person able to hold the hand of a stranger as they took their last breath.

The fact that those stories were not isolated incidents, but rather a common experience shared by a lot of frontline workers, just leaves me speechless. I would highly encourage people to read these stories for themselves.

I’m still receiving more stories to this day, because this experience is still hard to talk about for many people and I want to give them as much time as they need.

Did you learn anything about health care workers’ experiences that surprised you?

I think all of us have realized how integral health workers are to keeping us alive and keeping families together. I don’t know where we would be today without every single person that got up every day and braved a global pandemic to keep us safe.

How has this project helped you cope during the pandemic? Has it been therapeutic?

At first, I think it was a way of grounding me in this new reality. As it continued, it provided perspective. What was important during that time was (and still is) to keep health workers safe, as well as our friends, family, and co-workers. The project made it easier to let go of all the plans I had for 2020.

How are you supporting Project HOPE?

I first heard about Project HOPE through a charity drive that Worldbuilders conducted in April. Worldbuilders created an art print featuring all 100 portraits and is donating all proceeds from poster sales to Project HOPE.

I learned what all Project HOPE had been able to do to impact and help the health workers on the front lines. It inspired me and assured me that more good could come from the paintings I had created. They have brought joy to these 100 individuals, but now they can also support more health workers through Project HOPE’s work.

What is your hope for the art? Do you have any plans to present the portraits anywhere other than your website?

I hope it impacts people the same way it did for me — that it reminds them of the sacrifices health workers had to make this year.

My plan has always been to have a gallery show for these pieces. When I first created this work, I had hoped it would be much sooner, but as expectations changed for how the year would look as the pandemic continued, so did my vision for the show. As soon as it feels responsible to have a gallery exhibit that people can safely attend, Worldbuilders and I will find a gallery to share and celebrate these stories and show their portraits in a public space before I send the originals to all the health workers.